Mail-bag supporting mechanism.



J. SANDER.

MAIL BAG SUPPORTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION HLED SEPT. 21, 1915.

1,228,695.. Patented Jun 5, 1917.

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JOSEPH P. SANDER, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR TO THE SPOKANE MAILEQUIEMENT COMPANY, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION.

MAIL-BAG-SUPPORTING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1917.

Application filed September 21, 1915. Serial No. 51,798.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J osnrrr P. SANDER, a citizen of the United States,residlng at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag-Supporting Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mail bag transferring mechanism and one oftheprinclpal objects of the invention is to provide means for supportingthe bag to be transferred 111 such a manner as to take practically allof the strain off from the material of the bag and dispose such strainupon a separate supporting means.

The invention has to do more particularly with that type of mail bagcatching or transferring mechanism in which the bag 1s supported bylines extending from the ends of the bag, and it has been found inpractice that when the bag is wfull, its length is slightly contractedas compared to its length when the bag is empty.- Furthermore, when thebag is full, or partially filled, the strain imposed upon the bagstructure, itself, when the same is caught by either the station or thecar device, is of such a considerable nature that the life of the bag ismaterially shortened. This applies especially, to the points at whichthe endwise projecting lines are secured to the ends of the bag.

Now it is a primary object of this invention to effectively support thebag, preferably at both ends and the middle, without in any waystraining the material of the bag in the operation of transferring thebag from the car to the station or vice versa. Furthermore, it is anobject of this invention to support the bag irrespective of variation ofthe length of the latter due to it being empty, partially or fullyloaded.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to thefollowing description and accompanying drawing and will be moreparticularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a station deviceshowing a mail bag supported by the device of my invention, with theflat side of the bag in full elevation.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of a partially filled bag, drawn on an enlargedscale, and showing the manner in which the bag is supported at its upperand lower ends and also at an intermediate point.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of my improved supporting line.

1 Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout thedifferent fig- .ures'of the drawing.

As illustrated, 1 designates the platform structure of a stationtransfer device which is provided with an upright post or stand ard 2.An arm supporting spindle 3 is journaled at its upper and lower ends inbearings 4 and 5 to permit said spindle 3 to rotate about a fixedvertical axis. Mail bag transferring arms 6 and 7, preferably providedwith forked ends, are mounted upon said spindle 3 so as to be rotated toand from projecting positions with respect to the platform 1. Theprecise construction which is herein broadly illustrated, is shown moreparticularly in my co-pending application filed September' 2, 1914,Serial Number 859,866. Referring more particularly to the structure ofthe present invention, 8 designates, broadly, a supporting line whichmay be in the form of a cable, chain or rope and which is herein shownas provided with upper and lower sections 9 and 10. Said sections 9 and10 are connected with a strap loop 11, at their inner ends, as indicatedat 12 and 13; At their terminal ends, said sections 9 and 10 areprovided with enlargements 14 and 15, which may be termed lugs, andwhich serve to prevent the supporting line from pulling through andbecoming detached from the forks after the supporting line has enteredthe contracted or thrust portions of the forks. Inwardly with respect tothe ends of said sections 9 and 10, I provide fastening devices whichmay comprise clamps 16 and 17 each provided with a snap hook. asindicated at 18 and 19.

The mail bag is indicated at 20 and is shown provided on its ends withoppositely projecting eyes 21 and 22. Now by reference to Fig. 2, itwill be seen that the supporting line 8 extends along the mail bag 20and above and below the ends of the latter, the disposition of the snaphooks 18 and 19 being such that the ends of the bag may be securedthereto without unduly stretching the bag irrespective as to whether ornot its length is varied by the extent to which the same has beenfilled. Thus the bag lies along an intermediate portion of thesupporting line and will be secured thereto in a manner to support thebag without any strain whatsoever excepting the strain that wouldusually be imposed upon the bag by reason of the weight thereof.However, in my improved construction I also provide means for evenlessening the strain that would usually be imposed upon the bag, whenthe same is merely supported at its ends, such means being in the formof a contracting strap 23 which is threaded through the loop 11 andbuckled about the bag in such a manner as to contract the waist orcentral portion thereof. Thus in the most improved embodiment, the baghas three points of support. I

The great advantage in providing this intermediatesupport for the bag isthat the bag is held closely alongside the supporting line so that inthe act of transferring the bag from the car to the station device, orvice versa, the whirling movement usually resulting is materiallyreduced because no portion of the bag is free to swing bodily laterallyby centrifugal force, as a result of such whirling movement. Thereforethe result of my improved construction is a much more smooth andeiiicient action in the actual transfer, than in constructionsheretofore known.

It is believed that the advantages and utility of my invention will beclearly understood from the foregoing description, and while I- haveherein shown and described one specific form of my invention, I do notwish to be limited thereto except for such limitations as. the claimsmay import.

I claim 1. In combination with the supporting elements of a mail bagtransferring mechanism and a mail bag provided with attaching devicessecured at either end, of a continuous removable mail bag supportingline adapted to be held in a vertical position between said supportingelements and provided with attaching devices to cooperate with saidattaching devices of the mail bag to retain said bag in a verticaldistended position and in close parallel relation to said line.

2. In combination with the supporting elements of a'mail bagtransferring mechanism and a mail bag provided with attaching devicessecured at either end, of a bag supporting line adapted to be held in avertical position between said supporting elements and provided withattaching devices to cooperate with said attaching devices of the mailbag, an additional bag strap retaining device carried by said linedisposed intermediate of the aforementioned attaching devices of saidline, the several attaching devices of the bag and line all serving toretain said bag in a vertical distended position and in close parallelrelation to said line.

3. In combination with the supporting elements of a mail bagtransferring mechanisrn and a mail bag provided with attaching devicessecured at either end, of a continuous removable mail bag supportingline adapted to be held in a vertical position between said supportingelements for instantaneous detachment therefrom and provided withattaching devices disposed intermediate of its ends to coiiperate withsaid attaching devices of the mail bag to retain said bag in a verticaldistended position and in close parallel relation to said line.

4. In combination with the supporting elements of a mail bagtransferring mechanism and a mail bag provided with a plurality ofattaching devices, of a removable mail bag supporting line adapted to beheld in a vertical position between said supporting elements forinstantaneous detachment therefrom and provided with a plurality ofattaching devices disposed intermediate of its ends to cooperate withsaid attaching de vices of the mail bag to retain said bag in a verticaldistended position.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

JOSEPH P. SANDER.

Copies of this patent may'be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

